Admiral Beez
Major
I've read that the FAA was woefully undersized in Sept 1939. But how big was it, and how big did it need to be?
HMS Ark Royal needs 60 aircraft, each of the three Courageous class needs 48 aircraft, Eagle ~28 aircraft, Hermes and Argus each ~16. On top of this you need be training new personnel and procuring aircraft for the four Illustrious class that have been building since 1937 and very soon to enter service, so an additional 192 aircraft (~48x4). That's a total of 456 front line aircraft (38 squadrons). Add 50% that to a total FAA of about 684 aircraft to cover operational losses, spares, maintenance and training, with a total of perhaps 1,500 aircrew (pilots and observers/air gunner) deployed or in training, service ashore and leave. That's hardly a huge outlay for the Air Ministry and Exchequer, but was the actual FAA a lot smaller than this?
Of course the peacetime RN often deploys ships capable of, but not fitted (what's the official term for that, fitted for, but not with?) with combat systems. Look at today's Queen Elizabeth class carriers, sure they're in commission and sailing around, but without any fixed wing combat aircraft. In many ways the interwar carrier borne FAA looks like the IJNAF, with little planning or capability in place to rapidly scale up pilot and aircraft procurement to cover wartime losses.
HMS Ark Royal needs 60 aircraft, each of the three Courageous class needs 48 aircraft, Eagle ~28 aircraft, Hermes and Argus each ~16. On top of this you need be training new personnel and procuring aircraft for the four Illustrious class that have been building since 1937 and very soon to enter service, so an additional 192 aircraft (~48x4). That's a total of 456 front line aircraft (38 squadrons). Add 50% that to a total FAA of about 684 aircraft to cover operational losses, spares, maintenance and training, with a total of perhaps 1,500 aircrew (pilots and observers/air gunner) deployed or in training, service ashore and leave. That's hardly a huge outlay for the Air Ministry and Exchequer, but was the actual FAA a lot smaller than this?
Of course the peacetime RN often deploys ships capable of, but not fitted (what's the official term for that, fitted for, but not with?) with combat systems. Look at today's Queen Elizabeth class carriers, sure they're in commission and sailing around, but without any fixed wing combat aircraft. In many ways the interwar carrier borne FAA looks like the IJNAF, with little planning or capability in place to rapidly scale up pilot and aircraft procurement to cover wartime losses.